P    S 

1939 

H6 

02 

1895 

MAIN 


UC-NRLF 


I.,1. 1  5KAK  V 

, .      MI  !. 


UNIVERSITY.  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


i  i  •'  r  *  >  i  • 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

:    S. 


C7jss  No. 


* 


O  D  K 


HUMAN   BROTHERHOOD 


BY 

WARREN   HOLDEN 


With  Complin^eipts 

of  the  Author. 
TTl 


PHILADELPHIA 

PRESS    OF  J.   B.   LIPPINCOTT   COMPANY 
.895 


O  D  K 


HUMAN   BROTHERHOOD 


BY 


WARREN   HOLDEN 


UIITISITT 


PHILADELPHIA 

PRESS    OF  J.  B.   LIPPINCOTT   COMPANY 
1895 


COPYRIGHT,   1895, 

BY 
WARREN  HOLDEN. 


&-L 


I. 

O  happy  prophet  whose  far-reaching  ken 

Beholds  the  dawn  of  universal  peace ; 

A  day  of  consummated  hope, 

When  cruel  war  shall  cease; 

And  the  frank  brotherhood  of  men 

Insure  to  love  the  widest  scope ! 

All  nature  blossoms  as  the  rose. 

Her  children  sit  in  undisturbed  repose 

Beneath  the  hovering  wings  of  peace. 

While  each  one  owns  himself  his  brother's  keeper 

The  wealth  of  all  can  but  increase, 

And  love's  deep  stream  flow  deeper. 


HUMAN  BROTHERHOOD. 

Our  common  father,  God, 

Hath  laid  aside  the  chastening  rod 

Since  nations  will  learn  war  no  more, 

And  all  agree 

To  dwell  in  harmony, 

Food,  raiment,  friends,  and  joys  in  store. 

And  innocence  may  walk  the  midnight  street 

Free  from  alarm. 

No  fear  of  harm 

Where  manly  honor  bows  at  beauty's  feet, 

The  champion  of  modesty's  sweet  charm. 

Grim  care  no  more  contracts  the  open  brow, 

Nor  sink  the  feet  in  melancholy's  slough, 

Nor  fears  at  every  shadow  start, 

Nor  envy  gnaws  the  narrow  heart, 

Nor  lust  of  gold  grasps  all  within  its  reach, 


HUMAN  BR  O  THE  R  HO  OD. 


Pushing  the  weaker  to  the  wall. 
Enough  for  each, 


Enough  for  all. 


The  multi-millionaire, 

Eager  to  share 

The  bounty  which  he  holds  in  sacred  trust, 

With  fatherly  intent,  assumes  the  care 

Of  every  orphan  child.     Left  all  alone, 

No  more  the  loss  of  mother's  gentle  tone 

Shall  almost  break  thine  aching  heart. 

A  foster-father  fills  the  mother's  part : 

And  heaven  will  own  his  stewardship  was  just. 


O  prophet,  when  will  time  redeem 

The  pledges  of  thy  happy  dream  ? 

How  long  ere  the  dark  ages  are  quite  gone ! 

Watchman,  what  of  the  night?  cometh  the  dawn? 


6  HUMAN  BROTHERHOOD. 


II. 

Blow  the  brazen  blast  of  war ! 
Let  martial  music  stir  the  blood  to  strife ! 
Let  women  loiter  in  the  snug  boudoir. 
For  men  the  tumult  of  heroic  life ! 

Gunpowder  is  too  slow  for  this  fast  age. 

Why  not  try  dynamite 

War's  savage  aim  to  expedite, 

The  greatest  number  quickliest  to  slay  ? 

The  thirst  for  blood  so  to  assuage, 

And  give  delighted  hell  a  holiday. 

Armed  to  the  teeth  the  nations  stand, 
Ready  to  spring  whene'er  some  reckless  hand 


HUMAN  BROTHERHOOD.  7 

Flings  a  firebrand  into  the  magazine 
Of  adverse  interests  that  lie  between  : 
'Mid  hatreds  cunningly  concealed 
Behind  diplomacy's  two-faced  shield. 

Meantime  the  people  groan  and  sweat 

Under  a  burden  grievous  to  be  borne, 

To  furnish  rations  to  an  idle  set 

Of  troops  whose  trade  is  to  make  others  mourn. 

"  See  how  these  Christians  love,"  may  heathen  say. 
"The    unspeakable    Turk"    pursues     his    infamous 

way, 

Because  good  Christians  can't  agree 
How  to  divide  the  spoil  amicably. 

Meanwhile  the  poor  Armenians  suffer  wrong 
Which  righteous  heaven  cannot  wink  at  long.   • 


HUM  A  N  BR  O  THERHO  OD. 

Go     on,     good     Turk,     your     cup     is     well-nigh 

filled. 

And  when  it  runneth  over,  may  the  flood 
Sweep  you  to  far  Arabia's  desert  sands. 
No  longer  left  to  ravage  other  lands, 
Bethink  you  of  the  innocent  blood 
Your  ruthless  hands  have  spilled. 
With  your  near  relative,  "  Auld  Nickie-Ben, 
O  wad  ye  tak  a  thought  an'  men' !" 

The  Sunday-school  is  supplemented  by 

The  Boys'  Brigade,  a  new  ally 

To  "teach  the  young  idea  how  to  shoot." 

A  timely  measure,  needed  to  recruit 

The  ranks  of  the  Church  militant,  perhaps  ; 

Unless  religion's  proper  battle-ground 

Upon  a  higher  plane  is  found, 

Where  carnal  weapons  must  collapse. 


HUMAN  BROTHERHOOD.  g 

Tis  prophesied  in  sacred  books  : 

"  Who  takes  the  sword  shall  perish  by  the  same." 

"  Change  swords   to  ploughshares,  spears   to  prun- 

ing-hooks." 

Figures  of  speech,  you  know,  which  facts  disclaim. 
The  world  we  live  in  is  quite  practical ; 
And  to  succeed  men  must  be  tactical. 


10 


HUMAN  BROTHERHOOD. 


III. 

But  'mid  the  lull  of  battle,  how  doth  fare 

The  cause  of  human  brotherhood  ? 

Doth  each  think  other  better  than  himself, 

Watching  his  interest  with  sleepless  care ; 

Not  covetous  of  worldly  pelf 

Save  for  the  public  good  ? 

Doth  he  esteem  it  greatest  gain 

To  bear  the  burden  of  another's  pain  ? 

Let  conscience  answer  if  it  find  the  grace 

Amid  the  scramble  for  the  highest  place. 

Doctors  ransack  the  earth  for  some  new  form 
Of  horrible  disease,  where  microbes  swarm ; 


HUMAN  BROTHERHOOD. 

Those  microscopic  monsters  that  devour 
The  vitals  of  their  victims.     Fearful  power, 
To  ticket  shivering  ghosts  for  passage  o'er 
The  river  Styx  to  hades'  gloomy  shore. 


12 


HUMAN  BROTHERHOOD. 


IV. 

To  every  phase  of  human  misery 

Nature  responds  with  ready  sympathy. 

Alternate  waves  of  cold  and  heat 

Vie  with  each  other  to  defeat 

The  hope  of  harvest's  golden  treasure, 

Or  well-laid  plans  of  idle  pleasure. 

Tornadoes  threaten  builders'  proud  creations, 

And  earthquakes  shake  their  strong  foundations. 

While  rain  and  hail  and  flood  and  drought 

Shroud  every  enterprise  in  doubt. 

Hope  not  to  avert  outside  effect. 
Rather  the  inward  cause  eject. 


HUMAN  BROTHERHOOD.  l^ 

MIND  is  the  motive-power  that  moves  mankind. 
Behind  the  scenes  is  wove  the  mazy  plot. 
From  empire  down  to  meanest  lot 
The  actors  bow  to  a  mute  prompter's  nod. 
The  pageant  seen  upon  the  world's  wide  stage 
But  shadows  forth  the  theatre  of  mind, 
Where  spirit  forces,  Gog  and  Magog,  wage 
A  war  of  principles ;    their  umpire,  God. 

How  long  must  elder  brothers  serve,  O  Lord, 

Ere  they  receive  their  due  reward  ? 

All  that  I  have  is  thine,  obedient  son. 

Yet  let  us  pity  the  poor  wandering  one. 

A  parent's  love  can  never  cease  to  hope 

The  prodigal's  return  ;    whom  he  will  meet 

With  open  arms,  and  quickly  reinstate ; 

Though  selfishness  may  mope. 

Man  must  be  free,  though  he  should  madly  choose 


I4  HUMAN  BROTHERHOOD. 

Each  borrowed  talent  to  abuse. 

God  will  not  tolerate 

An  abject  slave  to  grovel  at  his  feet. 

Upright  He  made  man ;    upright  man  shall  be, 

Despite  false  notions  of  humility. 

Let  stubborn  manhood  struggle  with  his  fate 

Until  spontaneous  repentance  wake, 

And  he  obey  the  truth  for  the  truth's  sake. 

There  be  who  will  not  enter  the  strait  gate 

Unless  allured  by  sugar-coated  bait 

Of  "  hire  and  salary." 

Bear  with  the  weaker  brother,  faithful  found, 

Yet  praise  him  not  beyond  all  bound 

Because  he  .never  dared  to  walk  alone. 

But  those  who  try  all  things,  with  choice  kept  free, 

Will  cling  to  truth  to  all  eternity. 

And  such  shall  stand  the  pillars  of  God's  throne. 


HUMAN  BROTHERHOOD.  l  $ 

"And  I  heard  as  it  were  the  voice  of  a  great  multi 
tude,  and  as  the  voice  of  many  waters,  and  as  the  voice 
of  mighty  thunderings,  saying,  Alleluia:  for  the  Lord  God 
omnipotent  reigneth. 

"And  I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth:  for  the 
first  heaven  and  the  first  earth  were  passed  away ;  and 
there  was  no  more  sea. 

"And  I  heard  a  great  voice  out  of  heaven  saying, 
Behold,  the  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men,  and  he  will 
dwell  with  them,  and  they  shall  be  his  people,  and  God 
himself  shall  be  with  them,  and  be  their  God. 

"And  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes; 
and  there  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  cry 
ing,  neither  shall  there  be  any  more  pain  :  for  the  former 
things  are  passed  away." 


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